Prince Mathew.

I snapped my fingers right in front of his face to get his attention back. "Hey! Look at me. I'm the one talking to you. If you don't start telling me the absolute truth right now, I promise you, I will sue you into the ground." I said it sternly, leaving no room for doubt that I was dead serious.

His jaw dropped open in surprise. "What?! Sue me? For what? I'm the victim here! I should be suing her! She ruined my football career! She probably broke my throwing hand for good!" he exclaimed, his tone suddenly violent and arrogant. In that instant, I knew. I knew Viola wasn't the villain here. This guy was a classic, egotistical jock playboy.

Before I could tear into him, the office door flew open and Viola barged right in, without knocking. Jake immediately yelped and tried to hide behind me, using me as a human shield. "Viola! Stay away from me! Don't touch me!" he cried out, genuinely terrified.

Viola just crossed her arms over her chest, glaring pure fire at him. "You pathetic piece of shit! Did you really just stand here and tell them I broke your stupid arm just because you cheated on me? Seriously?! That's your big story?" she hollered, her voice shaking with rage.

"Viola, that's enough. Watch your language," I said firmly, turning my gaze to her. She was a storm contained in a person.

She smirked, a defiant and angry look on her face. "Oh yeah? And who the hell are you supposed to be? The new hall monitor?"

"I am Mathew York. I'm your father's best friend and his business partner," I replied slowly, keeping my voice even, trying to be the calm one in the room.

She let out a harsh, hysterical laugh that had no joy in it. "Oh, I see! That's rich. Do I even actually have a father? He never cared enough to ever come see me himself. Why did he bother sending you?" The pain in her voice was obvious, hidden under all the anger.

I decided to ignore her comment for the moment. I needed to end this circus. I was beyond tired; my ten-hour flight was catching up to me and this drama was giving me a pounding headache. I turned my attention back to Jake. "You! Now! This is your very last chance. Tell me what really happened. And if you lie to me again, I swear to God I will personally make sure your life is over. You have no idea who you're dealing with." I leveled my threat with a cold stare.

He widened his eyes, finally seeming to understand I wasn't bluffing. He cleared his throat, looked down at the floor in shame, and started speaking in a low mumble. "Okay... okay, fine. I lied. I... I snuck into her dorm room last night. I was trying to... you know... convince her to sleep with me. Like, finally be together... as lovers." He couldn't even look up.

A red-hot rage exploded behind my eyes. In a flash, I grabbed him by his shirt and slammed him hard against the wall, my hand pressing against his throat. "So you thought you could force her?! You wanted to pressure her into satisfying you? You wanted to fucking force yourself on her!" I growled, my voice dropping to something low and dangerous.

He struggled to breathe under my grip. "No! It wasn't like that! We'd been dating for over two years! I just thought it was the right time, that's all! She's eighteen, for God's sake! It's not a crime!" he choked out.

Then, a soft touch on my arm. Viola's hands were on mine, gently trying to pull me back. Her voice was quiet, broken, and it cut right through my anger. "Please. Just stop. Let him go. It's not worth it."

I glanced over my shoulder, my eyes meeting hers. And I truly saw her for the first time. She had the most stunning, beautiful green eyes I had ever seen in my life. She was pale, with a striking contrast of dark black hair. She was gorgeous. But more than that, I could see the unshed tears glistening in those beautiful eyes. This girl put on a tough act, but deep down inside, she was fragile and hurting. She hid her true feelings from everyone. It was so obvious she was deeply, deeply lonely.

Her pain just made me angrier. I pressed my hand harder against Jake's neck. "I will fucking sue you for attempted rape! I will ruin your life, your future, everything!" I roared, my control snapping.

The principal finally jumped into action, hurrying over and pulling me away from Jake. "Mr. Mathew, please! Sir, calm down! I will handle this! I will take the proper legal actions against him immediately. I had no idea he was such a liar," he said, trying to placate me.

I raised an eyebrow and pointed a warning finger right at the principal's face. "You better make sure that you do. Or I promise you, I will make sure you end up behind bars right alongside him. For now, Viola is taking a leave of absence. And I am taking her with me. Right now."

Viola was just standing there, frozen in place, staring at me in total shock. "Wait, what? Me? You're taking me where?" She blinked, completely confused by this sudden turn of events.

I walked over to her, linked my arm gently with hers, and gave her a soft smile. "We're getting out of this awful place. We're going to go have some actual fun this weekend. Just you and me."

And in that moment, I had no idea that this was the first real heartbeat of my new life. I didn't know that this rebellious, fiery, fragile girl was about to turn my entire world upside down and completely conquer my stone-cold heart with nothing but her fragile smile.